The scenario: You're in your car on the way to a blind date when you glance in the mirror at a red light and notice it -- yep, giant zit forming on your chin.
The solution: First, don't panic, because stress only makes things worse. Then, reach for your zit emergency kit (which you should always have in your purse): a spot treatment and a small tube of concealer. Apply the spot treatment first (try Intraceuticals Clarity Blemish Repair Wand, $89), then use your fingers to dab concealer on the spot. Bosso recommends MAC Studio Finish Concealer, $16.50 because it offers natural-looking coverage (so your date won't be distracted by a weird concealer blob) and is water resistant.
And if you're stuck somewhere without these items? You can always use powder (wet it for more concentrated coverage) or foundation (the part that's somewhat dried near the cap will go on thicker) instead, or if you're completely without extra makeup try blending what you are wearing over the zit for a bit of coverage (for example, if you used concealer under your eyes, try and wipe some off with your finger and use it on your blemish).
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The Disaster: A Crease in Your Hair
The scenario: You hit the snooze button a few too many times this morning, so you opted for a ponytail rather than full-on styling. But you still want to look put-together for post-work cocktails with friends. You take out the hair elastic and well, you know what you're left with ...
The solution: This requires a little work, but is fixable. If you do have hot styling tools available to you (like a blow dryer or flat or curling iron) then you're set. You can use a flat iron on the creased part (for straight hair) or a curling iron (for wavy or curly hair). Or, you can wet the creased area while brushing through your hair until it disappears, then blow dry the wet section, says Cristiano.
Stuck without any styling tools? Wet your hair like Cristiano said, run your fingers through to lessen the crease, then use the hand dryer in the bathroom to dry your hair. It's not perfect, but it'll work.
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The Disaster: Blotchy Self-Tanner
The scenario: Your family pool party is tomorrow so you use self-tanner, but realize hours before the party that you're a streaky mess.
The solution: Bosso says there's a couple things you can do to avoid looking like a self-tanning amateur. "First, exfoliate the area with a damp loofah or scrub cleanser to lift the tanner. If that doesn't work, soak in a warm bath, and after, try rubbing a lemon on the [uneven] area. The citric acid will loosen and lift it fairly easily." If there's no time to do all this, you can try using bronzer to even things out as well. Check out more tricks to self-tanning your bod like a pro.
If the blotchiness is on your face, Campo recommends exfoliating, then using a foundation with a yellow tone to it to balance out the orange-y streaks.
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The Disaster: Too Short and Uneven Bangs
The scenario: You're way overdue for a haircut, but your schedule and budget won't exactly let that happen, so you take matters into your own hands and trim your bangs. Too bad you have no idea what you're doing.
The solution: Sims says to try "braiding them to the side or slicking them back with a strong gel." He recommends something like Got2b Glued Styling Gel, $5.49. You can also build up an arsenal of headbands and barrettes to keep them out of sight.
If you simply must have your forehead covered, he says wearing your bangs messy instead of straight and precise will make any unevenness less noticeable.
The scenario: Being the graceful woman that you are, you ran into the coffee table and nailed your shin.
The solution: Bosso says you can cover just about any bruise once you understand color correcting. She suggests picking up a palette like Make Up For Ever Palette #5, $36, it has a range of colors that'll hide any shade of bruise. Next, she says to figure out the dominant shade of your shiner and neutralize it with the opposite shade. So if it's red, use green, blue use yellow, etc. Then top that with a concealer that matches your skin tone and finish with powder. And next time, watch where you're walking, okay?
With all the devastating natural disasters, oil spills, terrorist attacks, financial meltdowns and wars happening globally, it seems a bit hyperbolic to call something as trite as a chipped nail or a scissor-happy bang trim a disaster, right? Nonetheless, everything's relative and we don't want you to never be the victim of any type of beauty disaster (or whatever you want to call it).
In the realm of beauty, Murphy's Law definitely applies ("anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" and probably has gone wrong), but we just happen to have remedies for you courtesy of makeup artists Kimberley Bosso and Riku Campo, expert hairstylists Anthony Cristiano and Larry Sims and pro manicurist Beth Fricke. They'll help you plan ahead to prevent beauty blunders from happening as well as show you how to improvise in the moment when one does hit. Just stock your purse with the few essential survival beauty products they suggest and you'll look put-together (or put back together) in a snap -- think of these items as your beauty spare tire -- you'll need them in case you get a flat.
And to help you feel like you're not the only woman with pit stains, static-y hair and bleeding lipstick we thought we'd share photos of celebrity makeup mishaps and celebrity hairstyles gone wrong from stars that are otherwise fairly composed like Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, Drew Barrymore, Eva Mendes, Hilary Duff, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Kate Hudson, Rosario Dawson, Lindsay Lohan, Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse (well, maybe the last three are an exception).
